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. 1 i . i : i f. I II i I s r i 1 y n DAMS OF FAMOUS RACE HORSES SUCCESS ON THE TURF NOT AN ESSENTIAL FEATURE a IN THE MAKE-UP OF CELEBRATED BROOD MARES, AS ILLUSTRATED BY MANY INSTANCES By EXILE Acting on the suggestion of the editor of "Daily Racing Form" I have at last undertaken a task which should have been executed long ago, and this the ascertainment of the race" course . achievements of the mares which are and have in the past been productive of the best of the vinners. An investigation of the racing performances of the dams of the best of the winners serves only to strengthen a long cherished opinion that the only thing requisite, in a racing way, for a brood mare is speed: As stated by the late Duke of .Beaufort, "a slow mare will never breed a race horse," and speed, if only for so short a distance as one hundred yards, is essential, f My observation also is, and in this I am in entire accord with others who have given the brood mare phase of the subject much thought and study, that mares standing from 15 to 15.2 hands, i xbose which display distinctive feminine quality, rccmy mares on short legs, those carrying a good flag, a most essential point, are best. i As to breeding, any old rag of a brood mare is apt to throw a speedy juvenile, but in the production of the best, those with which to carry on, the best bred ones, even now are none I s too good. Man or beast, it is the blood that tells. Granted your mare is anatomically suitable, it is well to bear in mind mares whose pedi- J grees show certain strains of blood, such as Glencoe, Lexington, Stockwell, Hermit, Macaroni, Flying Dutchman, Melbourne, and so oh, give better results than do those minus these strains iiear the surface. Another thing, turf history tells us the best results also come from an inter- i mingling of the blood of Herod, Matchem and Eclipse. Scientists, I believe, contend there is no such thing as dominant male influence; the pur- i si-it of horse breeding, however, indicates the contrary. Any number of the descendants of i such influential horses as Stockwell, St. Simon, Glencoe, Hanover, Melbourne, etc., have the i look, color and form of their respective ancestors. For instance, Hanover was a Glencoe, .St. Simon a Voltigcur; so it goes, chestnut sons of Persimmon are of but little use as sires; the best ox the Hsnoyers or thoeewhich exhibit int their nedigrees the Hanover,, tojichi have the samc-s-tyle hip; the long pastern of the Lexingtons still makes itself -manifest; this sort of thing is ever before, ones eyes on the race course. Inbreeding, if persisted in, and turf history my guide, invariably results in retrogression. The stud success of The Tetrarch, outside of his own racing excellence, is in part due to his being outbred from the average English mare; the same thing holds good over here for Fair Play, as it did in the past for Musket and Fisherman in Australia. To reiterate, race course achievement has practically nothing to do with the success of a brood mare. To begin with, it may not prove uninteresting to note the racing form of the dams of the best of this years winners. In the four-year-old and over division Cudgel, Exterminator, Old Rosebud, Lucullite, Sun Briar, Midway and High Cost are perhaps best ; for the fhree-year-olds Sir Barton," Purchase, Mad Hatter, Hannibal, Thunderclap, Be Frank, Billy Kelly, Vexatious, Lillian Shaw and Milkmaid have the best form to recommend them, and jor the youngsters Man o War, Blazes, On Watch, Dominique, Constancy, Cleopatra and Cot-inn Blossom are good. Eugenia Burch, dam of Cudgel, was a race filly possessed of not a little high form, winning as a two-year-old the Produce Stakes, Brighton Beach Matrons Stakes, Nursery Handicap tnd also other good and important races as a three and four-year-old. Ivory Bells, dam of the Kentucky Derby winner Old Rosebud, and many times since a winner, nine races this year, won only one small race as a two-year-old. Lucky Lass, dam of Lucullite, winner of nine good races this year, won but one race, and this as a two-year-old as late in the year as October. Thirty Third, dam of Buckhorn and Midway, won five races, most of them sellers, as a two-year-old, and one the following year. Ballet Girl, The Porters dam, won once a 00 purse in her first year. Sweet Briar, foalsd in France and dam of Sun Briar, which was better for cause last year than this, did not race. Mitten, dam of High Cost, scored three small Chicago successes. The name of High Cost is included in this list more because of his regularity than his high class. Now for the threa-year-olds. Lady Sterling, dam of Sir Barton, in her two years on the turf, took part in fifty-four races, winning five as a two-year-old and four the following year; yet this hard run mare, besides Sir Barton, is the dam of the international winner Sir Martin. Cherryola, dam of Purchase, was a good and consistent race filly, winning ten races out of twenty-three starts, including the Vassar Stakes, Cherokee Selling Stakes, Iroquois Stakes and Latonia Autumn Inaugural as a three-year-old, and won three more races as a four-year-old. Madcap, dam of Mad Hatter, won one race at two at Aqueduct. Bandana, dam of the record maker Thunderclap, did not race. Mexoana, dam of Hannibal, won as a two-year-old the Bedford Stakes, Troy Stakes and Flatlands Stakes, and was four times returned a winner as a three-year-old, and won four races, small ones, at four. Glena, dam of Billy Kelly, did not race. Frankness, dam of the Latonia Derby and Cup winner Be Frank, did not win. Contrary, dam of the Alabama Stakes and Realization winner Vexatious, won one race, and this as a two-year-old at Saratoga. Early Love, dam of the .Kentucky Oaks winner Lillian Shaw, did not win. Nell Olin, dam of Milkmaid, winner of eight good races this year, and runner up to Vex- atious, conceding weight, for the Alabama Stakes, did not race. Berry Maid, dam of the Walden Stakes winner Dominique, was in her racing days a capable winner, numbering among her successes the Toboggan Handicap, Rubia Granda, dam of On Watch, won two small races in her first year, three as a three- vear cld and four as a four, two at five and one at six, and also ran sixteen times without success as a seven-year-old. Rubia Grandas first, Ultima Thub, is a winner for three years, and has beaten Leochares. Hidden Jewel, Rubia Grandas second, began well enough as a two-3 - year-old, winning two races, but won only one this year. Rubia Grandas third, On Watch, beat Constancy, giving seven pounds, for the Manor Handicap, came west and presented weight to all his opponents when winning the Latonia Queen City Handicap, and beat Blazes, in receipt of thirteen pounds, for the National Stakes. This is not by any means a bad producing rec- ord for one as hard raced as Rubia Granda. Mahubah, dam of the champion Man o War, won her first starts both as a two and three- year-old, but was racing only in inferior company, Blazing Star, dam of Blazes, did not win. Simenas Daughter, dam of the Spinaway winner Constancy, the best filly of the year, could not, though she raced three years, win a race, Gallice, dam of Cleopatra, tried for two years, but could not win. Crownlet, dam of the Cincinnati Trophy winner Cotton Blossom, did not win. Scotch Gift, dam of the English unbeaten two-year-old Tetratema, won as a youngster one little 100 race, but could not win, even at Bibury, the following year. Decagone, dam of the Dewhurst Plate winner Prince Galahad, won the first time up as a two-year-old the Brccklesby Stakes, but did no good thereafter. Grand Geraldine, dam of the Epsom Derby winner Grand Parade, had a try, but could : not win. 1 Santa Fina, dam of the Grand Prix winner Galloper Light, probably the best of the Continued on second page. DAMS OF FAMOUS RACE HORSES Continued from first page. English three-year-olds, won two races, the Fifty-seventh Triennial at Ascot and Champion Breeders Foal Plate at Derby of 1,200, hut coiiltl inly get, third to the One Thousand Guineas winner Wmkipop for the Ascot Coronation Slukes, and could only manage one little race in her three-year-old form. Froin the above it would appear that success or failure in racing is no sort of guide to a tuares winner producing qualities. One years racing, however, is insufficient evidence, and 1 hope to have something more to say on this, to me, most interesting subject.
